Bears Begin Bear Bed Building
Posted by Devin Manky November 4, 2015
Last week, as temperatures dropped and days continue to get shorter, Grinder and Coola began to build their bed for winter 2015. We provided them with a large mound of Pacific Silver-Fir branches inside their bear 'hotel' and after ignoring them for quite a few days, the boys decided it was time to build a bed.
Based on past years and experiments in offering them different types of branches we know that they prefer the Silver-Fir (otherwise known as Amabilis) branches for their flat and dense needle structure. When layered up they make for a comfortable mattress. The bears pick out the best branches and drag them into their den and layer them down on the floor. This is usually followed with some stomping and pushing to get everything into place.
Once they have a good layer they will spend a night sleeping on it and then the next day we have observed them re-adjusting or getting more branches as needed!
Our infrared hibernation camera is online and broadcasting from live inside the den - you can check it out here.
Please follow along as Grinder and Coola get ready for the snowy days ahead!
Click here to view a little video clip (sped up) of some of their bed making activities followed below by some still clips!
